Central Line (Tanzania)
1000mm gauge, 1067mm gauge
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The Central Line (
In 2017, Tanzania began the
History
German period
The Central Line was the second railway project coming into existence in the colony of then
From the start the engineers fought large difficulties, the tropical climate, periodic heavy rain and lack of appropriate building material. On the other hand, they could count on the experiences from the previous building of the
The route followed an old caravan route to
The construction of the line opened up trade between Lake Tanganyika and the east coast and spurred the growth of the ports at its
British Mandate
The British mandate added to the Central Line three branch lines. The most important one, of 379 km (235 mi), ran from Tabora to Mwanza at the south bank of the Lake Victoria. Another ran from Kilosa to Mikumi. A third, established in 1931, ran 93.58 mi (150.60 km)[1] from Manyoni via Singida to Kinyangiri;[2] the section north of Singida closed between 1944 and 1947.[3]
After independence
After the independence of Tanzania, the Central Line and the Usambara Railway were connected between the stations of Mruazi and Ruvu.
The Main Line
The Central Line starts at the Tanzanian metropolis of Dar es Salaam at the Indian Ocean with today's capital of Tanzania, Dodoma, in the center of the country and proceeds further to Tanzania’s most important port at the shore of Lake Tanganyika, Kigoma. It crosses central Tanzania completely with a length of 1,254 kilometers (779 mi) and overcomes the height of the east edge East African rift valley. The main stations on this line are: Dar es Salaam, Ruvu, Morogoro, Kilosa, Dodoma, Manyoni, Tabora and Kaliua.[4]
Mwanza Line
The Mwanza Railway line connects with the main line at Tabora station and ends at Mwanza railway station. The distance covered by this railway line is 378 km. Its construction started at Tabora in 1923 and ended in Mwanza in 1928. A dry port was constructed at the town of Isaka, for freight transport to Rwanda and Burundi. The main stations along the Mwanza Railway line are: Tabora, Kakola, Isaka, Shinyanga and Mwanza.[4]
Mikumi line
The Mikumi line, built between 1958 and 1963, branches southwards off the Central Line at
Traffic
Today’s rail services are offered by the
Flooding in December 2009 caused serious disruption; operations resumed in June 2010.[8]
See also
Sources
- ^ "Railway Construction in East Africa, 1931–35". Hansard. 25 November 1936.
- ^ Tanganyika (8 July 1932). Official Gazette. p. 395.
- ^ Jumanne Mkama (1966). "Transportation and Economic Development in Tanzania". p. 30.
- ^ a b "Railways Network". Tanzania Railways Limited. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Long Distance Train". Tanzania Railways Corporation. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
- ^ "Mwanzo". www.trc.co.tz. January 2018. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ^ "Mwanzo". www.trc.co.tz. January 2018. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ^ "News in Brief". Railway Gazette. 2010. Archived from the original on 2019-07-13. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
Literature
- Franz Balzer: Die Kolonialbahnen mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Afrikas. Berlin 1916. Reprint: Leipzig 2008. ISBN 978-3-8262-0233-9.
- Helmut Schroeter: Die Eisenbahnen der ehemaligen deutschen Schutzgebiete Afrikas und ihre Fahrzeuge = Die Fahrzeuge der deutschen Eisenbahnen 7. Frankfurt 1961.
External links
- Interior of a 1st class passenger car of the Tanganjikabahn previous to 1918
- Construction of the Central Line.